Posted by chicagomedia.org on July 30, 2009 at 10:14:15:
ESPN orders documentary on Chicago Cubs scapegoat Steve Bartman
Steve Bartman, an accidental icon of Chicago Cubs futility, is getting thrust into the spotlight once more.
ESPN announced Wednesday that it has commissioned a one-hour documentary on Bartman, the Cubs fan whose attempt to catch a foul ball late in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship series was cast as some kind of catalyst in the long-hamstrung team's eventual collapse that year.
The revisiting of the Bartman incident and a look at its ugly legacy by Alex Gibney, writer-director of the Oscar-nominated "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and the Academy Award-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side," will be part of ESPN's "30 for 30" series. According to ESPN, Gibney will attempt to answer the question: Can Bartman ever forgive Chicago?
"30 for 30" has the cable sports network presenting 30 documentaries from various filmmakers, each covering a different topic from the past 30 years, to mark ESPN's 30th anniversary. The first is set to debut in early October, with the last scheduled for late next year.
Ron Shelton's "30 for 30" contribution will be a film on basketball great Michael Jordan's baseball sabbatical. John Singleton is looking at disgraced track star Marion Jones. Ice Cube is examining at how the Los Angeles Raiders became linked with "gansta rap" and the hip-hop scene. Mike Tollin's project is about the short-lived USFL.
Other filmmakers working on the project include Barry Levinson, Peter Berg, Barbara Kopple, Joel Surnow, Albert Maysles, Morgan Freeman, Spike Jonze, Brett Morgen, Dan Klores, Johnny Knoxville, Frank Marshall, Reggie Rock Blythewood and Steve James.
The Cubs, like the Chicago Tribune, are owned by Tribune Co.